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(This article has been republished from The Quint’s archives to mark Arun Jaitley’s death anniversary.)
Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam
A BJP stalwart known for his oratory, a leader of opposition who did not shy away from giving point-by-point rebuttal to the UPA government’s policies in the Rajya Sabha and Finance and Defence Minister in Modi 1.0 cabinet, here’s taking a look at Arun Jaitley's best speeches in the Parliament.
As one of PM Modi's key aides in the NDA govt, Jaitley had shouldered the task of the historic introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), on 1 July, replacing a thicket of indirect central and state levies. Despite initial hiccups, the Modi 1.0 government had managed to have all parties on board.
"The leakages and evasions in this process will reduce over a period of time which will result in an increase of tax base. Both the Centre and state will benefit from this," Jaitley had said in Lok Sabha.
When Manmohan Singh, despite severe opposition, permitted FDI in multi-brand retail and the state governments were allowed to choose whether they would implement the same in the respective states, Jaitley had countered saying that most UPA allies were compelled to give support to FDI.
"Your agriculture minister, an NCP leader, Pawar Sahab has always been a supporter of FDI. I heard a statement from his party in the Maharashtra Assembly that the Maharashtra government cannot roll out FDI in the state," Jaitley had said in Rajya Sabha.
Participating in the debate on the Liberhan Commission's report on the Babri demolition case in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley had made fun at justice Liberhan and mocked the product of his 17-year-long efforts.
"It is a report which is an exercise in futility. It is a report which almost all the major media in this country has referred to as a 'dud' report. It is a report that the ATR itself indicates that it is an unimplementable document," Jaitley had said in Rajya Sabha.
In August 2011, as many as 189 members of the Rajya Sabha had voted in favour of the motion to impeach Justice Soumitra Sen from the Calcutta High Court.
“The Honourable judge says that the committee that the Honourable Chairman appointed mentioned that the judge was a holder of a particular account whereas the account belonged to some other Soumita Sen and he is being hanged because he held an account and the committee attributed the account to him which is in the name of some other Soumitra Sen. You can shout from rooftops that you did not withdraw money but these cheques and the misappropriations will hang like an albatross around your neck,” Jaitley had debated in Rajya Sabha.
Arun Jaitley had attacked former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after Ottavio Quattrocchi escaped the country and Italian marines managed to flee from the country giving a 'wrong affidavit' in the Supreme Court.
"Two Italian marines who were being prosecuted in Kerala for ostensibly killing Indian fishermen have now absconded and they have absconded as a result of deception and outright fraud which has been practiced on the government of India and on the Indian Supreme Court by a sovereign nation," Jaitley had said in Rajya Sabha.
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